Christopher Shays for Congress

Published: August 11, 1987

Both major-party candidates for Connecticut's vacant Congressional seat in a special election next Tuesday are well qualified. We favor Christopher Shays, the Republican, for his willingness to stake out clear positions and stick to them.

The seat, from Fairfield County, was ably filled by Stewart McKinney, a Republican, for 16 years until his death in May. The district is glamorized as New York's suburban ''Gold Coast,'' but its largest city is Bridgeport, plagued by urban decay. Outsiders may seek national omens in this special election, the only one this year, but a short midsummer race depends mostly on name recognition and turnout.

The Democrat, Christine Niedermeier, a 35-year-old lawyer, served eight years as a State Representative, then ran a strong challenge to Mr. McKinney last fall. In Hartford she was a leader on transportation - a huge problem in the county -and tended to be more conservative than her party on fiscal matters. She is bright and energetic, but appears evasive on some highly controversial issues like handgun control and non-defense program cuts.

Mr. Shays, 41, a real estate broker and for 13 years a State Representative, can be strong-willed to a fault. While a legislator he was jailed briefly for contempt, in a matter where the courts had clearly mishandled a case of policing the probate system.

This quality, furthermore, can reflect both compassion and a knack for publicity. On the eve of his campaign kickoff this year, he spent the night in a low-income housing project. Commonly said to be ''in the McKinney mold,'' he has opposed fellow brokers on real estate legislation and favors constructive negotiations in Central America.

Informed, articulate and generally unwavering, he would make a fine successor to Mr. McKinney.